Permits sale of raw milk under certain conditions and establishes raw milk permit program.

A4997

ASSEMBLY, No. 4997

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MAY 7, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman� DAWN FANTASIA

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

SYNOPSIS

���� Permits sale of raw milk under certain conditions and
establishes raw milk permit program.�

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
permitting the sale of raw milk, amending P.L.1964,
c.62 and supplementing Title 24 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 17 of P.L.1964,
c.62 (C.24:10-57.17) is amended to read as follows:

���� 17.� No person shall sell,
offer for sale, or distribute to
[
the
ultimate
]

a
consumer any milk or cream that is not pasteurized
unless the
person is a holder of a valid raw milk permit issued

pursuant to section
3 of P.L.��� , c.�� (C.������� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)
.

(cf: P.L.1987, c.302, s.2)

���� 2.��� Section 18 of P.L.1964,
c.62 (C.24:10-57.18) is amended to read as follows:

���� 18.� No milk products nor
fluid milk products shall be manufactured, shipped, transported, or imported
for use or sale within this State unless the milk and fluid milk products used
in the manufacture of such food products are pasteurized before or during manufacture
into milk products or fluid milk products, provided, however, that this shall
not apply to cheese which has been� kept for at least 60 days after manufacture
at a temperature no lower than 35 degrees Fahrenheit.�
This section shall
not apply to milk products or fluid milk products produced by a holder of a
valid raw milk permit issued pursuant to section 3 of P.L.��� ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill)
.

(cf: P.L.1964, c.62, s.18)

���� 3.��� (New section) a. The
Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Health, shall
establish a raw milk permit program.� The raw milk permit program shall allow
the holder of a raw milk permit to sell, offer for sale or otherwise make available
raw milk directly to consumers but only at the farm or property where the raw
milk is produced.� The Department of Agriculture shall issue a raw milk permit
to an applicant after the Department of Agriculture and the Department of
Health have each received, reviewed, and approved a permit application from the
applicant, pursuant to the provisions of this section and any rules and
regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

���� b.��� The raw milk permit
program shall require: (1) the applicant to be in compliance and, once a permit
has been issued, to continue to be in compliance with all applicable provisions
of the New Jersey dairy laws, rules and regulations; (2) the permit holder to
submit to, and the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the
Department of Health, to conduct, inspections in conjunction with any other
inspections currently conducted by the Department of Health and or Department
of Agriculture at dairy farms,

to ensure compliance with the requirements prescribed in this
section; (3) the permit holder to post a notice conspicuously on the permit
holder�s property stating that raw milk does not provide the protection of
pasteurization, and to comply with the labeling and signage requirements
established by subsection c. of this section; and (4) the applicant to sign an
affidavit agreeing that the applicant will not use growth hormones or cows that
are given growth hormones in the production of raw milk. The Department of
Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Health, shall establish
standards for proper packaging of raw milk with the exception of single serve
containers of hand filled milk, which shall be permissible within the milk
room.

���� c.����
Wherever raw milk is advertised, sold, or dispensed, the permit holder
shall affix on the container from which raw milk is dispensed, and on each
container of raw milk or raw milk product sold, a label that reads:� �Raw Milk
Is Not Pasteurized and May Contain Organisms that Cause Human Disease.�� The
permit holder shall also post at least one sign that can easily be observed by
anyone entering the place where the raw milk is advertised, sold, or
dispensed.� Each sign shall be no less than eight by 11 inches in total
dimension and shall state, in letters not less than one inch in height: �Raw
Milk Is Not Pasteurized and May Contain Organisms that Cause Human Disease.�

���� d.��� The Department of
Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Health, shall establish a
raw milk permit fee to be collected by the Department of Agriculture in an
amount estimated to cover the costs of administering the raw milk permit
program incurred by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health.
The Department of Agriculture shall transfer to the Department of Health the
appropriate portion of collected fees in accordance with an appropriate
schedule established and agreed to by the departments.� This fee shall be in
addition to any other fee required by law for the production or sale of milk in
the State.

���� e.���� The Department of
Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Health, shall conduct
cattle health tests, for those cattle used in the production of raw milk, for
evidence of tuberculosis, brucellosis, Johnes disease and any other disease the
Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Health,
determines poses a danger to public health on an initial basis and continuing
basis as required.

���� f.���� Raw milk for sale,
pursuant to this section, shall be cooled to 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less
within two hours after milking, and during milking the blended milk shall not
exceed 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

���� g.��� A permit holder shall
test the raw milk produced to demonstrate compliance with standards established
in this subsection.� Raw milk shall: (1) contain a bacterial count not in
excess of 10,000 colonies standard plate count per milliliter; (2) contain a
coliform count not in excess of 10 per milliliter; (3) contain a somatic cell
count not in excess of 300,000 per milliliter of retail raw milk; and (4)
contain no antibiotic residue according to current accepted standards.� Testing
to establish the standards required under this subsection shall be conducted on
a bimonthly basis, at the permit holder�s expense, by an independent laboratory
approved by the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department
of Health.� Each permit holder shall maintain a log of the test results on a
rolling thirteen month schedule.� Test results that fail to meet the standards
established in this subsection shall be reported to the Department of Agriculture
and to the Department of Health by the permit holder and the independent
laboratory that performed the test.

���� h.��� If testing results fail
to meet the compliance requirements established in subsection g.� of this
section, then a second test shall be conducted.� If the second test results
fail to meet the compliance requirements established in subsection g. of this
section, then the sale of milk from the failing facility shall be suspended.� Sale
of raw milk from the failing facility may resume only upon a showing of two
consecutive tests, within a ten day period, meeting the compliance requirements
established in subsection g. of this section.� If a permit holder receives two
suspensions within a one year period for failure to meet the compliance
requirements established in subsection g. of this section, then the permit
holder�s permit shall be revoked.

���� i.���� Raw milk products such
as yogurt, kefir, butter, cottage cheese, and raw milk cheese may be produced
and sold by a permit holder provided they are in compliance with all of the
requirements of this section.

���� j.���� Nothing in this
section, nor any other law, shall preclude a consumer, for the purpose of
obtaining raw milk, and a farmer from entering into a contract for shared
ownership of a cow and contractually prescribing the terms and conditions of
milk production.� If a contract is entered into pursuant to this subsection,�
no raw milk permit shall be required.

���� k.��� For the purposes of this
section:

���� �Applicant� means a person who
owns, and produces milk or milk products from, one cow or goat or more and is
seeking a raw milk permit pursuant to this section.

���� �Permit holder� means a person
in possession of a valid raw milk permit issued pursuant to this section.

���� �Raw milk� means milk that has
not been pasteurized.

���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect on the 180th day after the date of enactment, but the Secretary of
Agriculture and the Commissioner of Health may take such anticipatory
administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the
implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

����� This bill would permit the sale of raw milk by a
person holding a valid raw milk permit.� The bill would also require the
Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Health, to
establish a raw milk permit program.

����� The bill authorizes permit holders to sell, offer for
sale or otherwise make available raw milk at the farm or property where the raw
milk is produced.� The bill also establishes standards for the quality of the
raw milk that is produced by a permit holder.� To protect the public health,
the bill establishes certain prerequisites that must be met before a raw milk
permit may be granted, including:� (1) a signed affidavit by the permit
applicant certifying that no growth hormones will be used in the process of
producing raw milk; (2) conspicuous warning requirements stating that raw milk
does not provide the protection of pasteurization, including specific labeling
on dispensing containers and sold containers and specific signage; (3)
submission to certain inspections by the Department of Agriculture, in
consultation with the Department of Health; and (4) compliance with all
applicable provisions of New Jersey�s dairy laws, rules and regulations.

����� The permit program would be funded by a permit fee
estimated by the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department
of Health, to cover the costs of administering the program.

����� The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with
the Department of Health, would be required to conduct initial testing of the
cows intended to be used for the production of raw milk, with ongoing testing
as necessary.� The permit holder is also required to conduct tests, at the
permit holder�s expense, to measure the levels of certain bacteria and
pathogens in the raw milk produced.� Failing test results are required to be
reported to the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health.� If the
permit holder fails to meet certain standards, by failing two consecutive tests
in a one year period, then the raw milk permit would be revoked.